Month: February 2014

My Carmel Bird Award longlisted story Hostile Takeover has just been published as an esingle by Spineless Wonders as part of the Amanda Lohrey Selects Series.

Here’s the blurb: ‘Z works within Treasury, in a government where knowledge and alliances are power, and people are bought, used and manipulated. Z is blindsided when he learns that he has been “bought” by the highest ranked official of a dangerous government agency, who took advantage of a sinister new law. Now Z must indulge her every whim and request. Will he ever find a way out of her grip? Claire Corbett’s convincing characters and intriguing narrative gives an insight into an alternative reality that is scarily convincing. It will keep you guessing to the very last page.’

Over 3 fortnightly sessions, participants will gain the skills to stimulate and enhance their writing.

Covering the philosophy of writing, plotting, moving forward when stuck and how to approach publishers, the sessions will also offer participants valuable one-on-one time with Tom Keneally for feedback and coaching on their writing projects.

The classes are two weeks apart to allow participants to practice what they have learned between sessions.’

When I moved to Australia from Canada as a child, I was struck by the shape of my new home. In Canada I had to draw maps of my native land in exacting detail. This skill atrophied at my Sydney primary school when I was handed a plastic stencil of Australia, stamped with the helpful suggestion: “NOTE: TASMANIA TO BE DRAWN FREE HAND.” I loved that this continent was so whole and perfect I could hold it in my hand, the outline of Australia so self-contained it easily became its own template, icon and logo. What I didn’t know was that it took centuries of discovery and cartographic effort to resolve this shape.

The Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia exhibition at Canberra’s National Library of Australia (until 10 March) shows how Europeans discovered and charted our coastline, which had for centuries been imagined as the Unknown South Land, Terra Australis Incognita.